Issa Hayatou Out, Ahmad Ahmad In: African football speaks

After a vote at the governing body's Congress in Addis Ababa, the Malagasy administrator was named as the new leader, replacing Issa Hayatou

Malagasy football administrator Ahmad Ahmad has been named the new Caf President after defeating incumbent Issa Hayatou in Thursday’s vote.

In the election, which was held at Caf’s 39th General Assembly in Addis Ababa, Ahmad defeated Hayatou in a shock result after picking up 34 votes to the 70-year-old’s 20.

Hayatou had been in power since 1988 when he replaced Abdel Halim Mohammad, and has overseen significant growth in the continental game and in Caf’s standing within the global football community.

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The Cameroonian who as a result of this defeat will lose his position on the ruling council of world football's governing body, was led from the auditorium by aides who ignored requests for comment from media.

In contrast, Ahmad was carried on the shoulders of supporters to the podium after the result was announced. He becomes the body’s seventh president after Abdel Aziz Abdallah Salem (1957-1958), Abdel Aziz Moustafa (1958-1968), Abdel Halim Muhammad (1968-1972), Yidnekatchew Tessema (1972-1987), Abdel Halim Muhammad (1987-1988) and Issa Hayatou (1988-2017).